Milton Elects New Council

October 22 was Election Day. Milton voters cast their ballots for the offices of: Mayor, Halton Regional Chair, Ward Councillors, and Regional & Local Councillors. Approximately 23,000 ballots were cast. This was the first election conducted under the new ward boundaries approved in 2016. Voters chose one candidate for municipal councillor, regional councillor, mayor and trustee.

John Challinor won the ward 2 council seat. His main priority will be to hold taxes to near the rate of inflation, he said in an email. Challinor would like to see the growth of emergency services match future development. “If other levels of government cannot equitably participate in Milton’s infrastructure funding requirements, the province’s Places to Grow planning policy dictate must be reviewed and revised, which I will be calling for if proper funding is not forthcoming. Ward 2 boundaries stretch from the Peel Region border in the east to Ontario St in the west, Campbellville Rd in the north, and Derry Rd in the south. Challinor defeated Galen Naidoo-Harris by approximately 200 votes.

Kristina Tesser Derksen won the council seat in ward 1. Her main priority is to represent her constituents. She wants a more measured pace of growth. “I would also like to see development accompanied by more financial support from the province so that roads and other infrastructure can keep pace with the traffic pressures that residential and commercial development bring,” she said in an email. Ward 1 stretches from the Eramosa-Milton Town line down to Derry Rd, east to Ontario St, and west to the Wellington-Halton line. Tesser-Derksen defeated incumbent councillor Cindy Lunau. Lunau had been in office for 21 years.

Rick Di Lorenzo returns as Councillor for Ward 3. His top priority is infrastructure Photos by: Denise Cooperwhite By: Laura Steiner including the widening of Louis St. Laurent. He wants to see growth handled as a cooperative effort. “I’d like to work with the Region of Halton on a discussion with the Province of Ontario on funding for future infrastructure in Milton, ” Di Lorenzo replied. The new ward 3 boundaries are: Peel Region (East), Ontario St (West), Lower Base Line (South), and Derry Rd (North). Di Lorenzo defeated fellow incumbent Robert Duvall.

Returning to Council are Regional Councillor Colin Best, Regional Councillor Rick Malboeuf, Regional Councillor Zeeshan Hamid, Regional Councillor Mike Cluett, and Mayor Krantz. The new council will be sworn in, in December. For more information check www.milton.ca

Reporter’s note: The same two questions were emailed to all councillors. Because of print deadlines we were unable to grant extensionsPhotos by: Denise Cooperwhite